In order to produce high performance and highly reliable electronic equipment, electronics must be designed to withstand vibrational and thermal.mechanical stresses, space radiation effects, and must be producible, reliable, maintainable and cost effective. Thus, electronic equipment design tools must incorporate electrical, mechanical, reliability, maintainability and logistic engineering requirements. This requires that not only the tools for analysis and prediction be in place, but that there are also system level design tools to integrate the analytical and computational techniques of design with optimization and decision support tools, all in a concurrent engineering software environment. System level design tools will increase the productivity and efficiency of engineers, an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Computer Aided Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE) at the University of Maryland. The Center's research theme is to promote interdisciplinary basic study in the application and implications of advanced technologies in the engineering design of electronic equipment. Research activities are built around four inter. related thrust application areas: design for the life cycle, decision tools and artificial intelligence, modeling and analyses, and measurement science. Six industry members and one government laboratory have already joined the Center providing $350,000 support. The University of Maryland had agreed to forego its overhead charges (approximately $200,000 per year). In addition, there are adequate computers, laboratory space and instruments for the proposed research at the university. The Program Manager recommends that the University of Maryland be awarded $50,000 each year for five (5) years for the initiation of the CALCE Center. An additional $50,000 is being transferred this year from the Naval Microelectronics Facility at China Lake (California) via a Military Interdepartmental Purchase Request. Finally, $5,000 is being awarded to support a women undergraduate research assistant. The total award for the first year is $105,000. Near the end of each 12.month period, the Program Manager and/or Director of the Engineering Centers Division will review of the progress of the Center on a number of renewal criteria, including the following: (1) extent to which university/industry interaction and collaboration is developing; (2) extent to which the support base for the center is expanding; (3) extent to which a robust research program is developing. If review is satisfactory, the Program Manager will recommend support of the next period of this continuing grant. //
